The Temporal Knights (16 page)

Sir Oldalf laughed, and gave a look of thanks to Matt. Never had he seen his daughter look and act so happy, though she must be a bit daft thinking that they had traveled all the way to Shaftesbury and then Bridgwater in so little a time. But he was gratified that she was the one blessed by such a ride and felt that it brought honor to him as well.

“Did ye see me Father?”

“Na, but we heard
ye,” he answered and the crowd laughed heartily.

The merriment went on all afternoon, and Matt was obliged to take the Ealdorman up in the plane. But this time instead of going to the east they headed west and flew over Watchet and the coast, before moving down and flying over Countisbury Hill, the Viking stronghold. They circled, and like everywhere the people ran or tried to attack them with arrows. Æthelnoth laughed and shook his fist at his enemies but on the way back they flew over and startled a caravan of wagons and people on foot. The group was ragged and spread out, but the main body was only about five miles due west of the town of Athelney and the Ealdorman’s home. The older man enjoyed the ride immensely, his eyes brimming with tears of excitement, but the sight of the caravan sobered him before they landed. He worried that they were refugees from some western town, perhaps Pilton or thereabouts. The Danes were very active down in those parts. After they landed and he told the news, a group of knights volunteered to ride out and check, and several soldiers offered to go with them. Peebles reluctantly agreed, provided they go on horseback, and well armed.

The group returned to the festivities just before nightfall, and confirmed that the people were indeed refugees from Pilton. The Danes were at it again, leaving their permanent residence of Countisbury to raid the nearby town. Sir Elid told a few graphic stories of the rape, murder, and thievery the Anglish suffered at the hands of the Danes. The caravan was not due to arrive until early the next day, but the bad news put a damper on the celebration.

“We must drive those devils into the sea,” the Ealdorman barked, hacking at the enormous log he was sitting on with a slim sharp knife. Peebles sat next to him and repressed a smile, gazing into one of the five large bonfires that ringed the field to the south of the town’s main gates.

“The Danes attack, steal and murder, taking our food and women. They be evil men who live off thee hard labor of others.”

“Perhaps the King can help,” Peebles suggested more to find out the Ealdorman’s position and his thoughts about his king, than to offer any real advice. The General had every intention of driving the local bandits out. They would do it very impressively so word would spread, and they would do it very soon.

“Yah, the King. He be a stout man forsooth, and doing well by his countrymen, but he has his own troubles in Wessex with the Boneless. The Danes be everywhere. They attack in Devon at Exeter, Hampshire at Wilton and even Lundenwic this past spring. The Danes be strong…and these Danes be me problem, but possibly with the help of Lord Æthelred, the King of Mercia and his knights, we be able to drive them out.”

“The King Alfred will not help then?”

“Tis na from lack of want,” the Ealdorman replied. “Tis na so simple a thing. For the King to come west is to leave the whole of Wessex and Kent open. The traitor Anglish in East Anglia wold like as na join with the Boneless and crush us all…na Alfred must stay in Wessex…in the east. 

“The Boneless?”
Peebles asked, more curious than amused.

“Ya!
Ivarr, cursed son of Ragnar. Canna use his manhood, makes him doubly mean an’ irritable. Bloodthirsty devil he be, a mighty warrior and a scourge on all the Anglish,” Æthelnoth replied and then spat to rid his body of any evil that might come with the name.

The General said nothing, but decided just then to hold a staff meeting that night and sent an orderly to inform his officers to meet at 2200 hours in his tent. Leoforic, who was pestering Dr. Rice to show his video to everyone, interrupted the General’s thoughts. After a quick consultation with the doctor, they decided it couldn’t hurt and set up a series of monitors around the perimeter of the camp so that those who wished to watch could do so. It took some time to move a generator and to run all the power, but in the end they had five screens up and ready. Nearly all the locals were curious about the little magic box the Prince of Mercia had pointed at each and every one of them that day.

The video was a big hit. The locals were shocked and frightened at first, but fear soon turned to utter delight, as they laughed at their own antics on the screen. The children were especially enchanted and squealed with excitement when they saw their own faces on the screen before them. Matt stood back to one side with Ellyn, who went so far as to hold his hand as they watched, since the video screens negated the danger of prying eyes in the crowd. For his own part, Matt showed not the slightest desire to pull his hand free, and they both laughed till they cried as they watched the first airplane ride of the afternoon. Ellyn’s screams came through the tiny speakers quite clearly. Everyone laughed hysterically, and many turned and smiled at Ellyn with warmth. The video did the trick and turned the mood, and the celebration started up again full force with music and much dancing.

Ellyn tried at first to get Matt to join her in dance but he resisted so she joined the other young nobles in an exhibition of a number of dances. Matt and many of the other Americans were especially taken with a fast dance in which the dancers held sticks about two and a half feet long. Men and women performed together, spinning and twirling about in dizzying fashion. As they spun they struck out with their sticks, striking the other dancers sticks with amazing skill. Ellyn and many other ladies laughed and smiled as they performed more and more complicated patterns, striking and spinning and striking again. Many of the Americans were growing anxious that someone was going to get whacked soon. The crack of wood on wood became the drumbeat
for the music and when combined with the supple movements of the dancers, created a beautiful and hypnotic pattern, and soon everyone was clapping in time to the sounds of the wood. The dance finished with a flurry, with dancers turning this way and that and always striking out to hit the other dancer’s sticks. It was a very carefully choreographed, and the speed and slight danger of the performance left both the dancers and the spectators breathless. There was a roar of applause as it ended. Ellyn was smiling and breathing hard as she made her way to Matt when the dance was over, drawn like a magnet.

“That was wonderful,” he said smiling back at her.

“Tis called the Knuckle Buster,” she said fanning herself with her hands, and panting to catch her breath.

Matt laughed. “I can see why. It was beautiful.”

“Wold ye like to try it?” she asked with a sly smile, hardly believing that the man before her knew no dances as he claimed. Dancing was a ladies right, so she could get the feel of a man in her arms before she consented to other more serious things.

“I...”

“Come then,” she ordered and began to pull him out onto the dancing area. He resisted her pull only a little, since he was actually very interested in learning. Soon many a young maiden had found a handsome stranger to teach, and General Peebles was even coaxed out by the charms of the Lady Merwinna.

“Tis this way,” Ellyn explained telling him to hold his stick up and still. “Not this way,” she added and struck him hard on the knuckles.

“Oooww,” Matt said shaking his injured hand, but he smiled at Ellyn and then they all started to dance very, very slowly.

§

Everyone arrived a few minutes early to the meeting except Matt who lingered longer than most after the dancing was over. Against his better judgment, Matt spent every available moment with Ellyn and deeply regretted having to leave her at all.

“All right,” the General started at once. “First I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts on the locals. Can they be trusted?”

At first no one spoke, but then Colonel Lemay stood. “I would say so. They’ve received us very well, considering the circumstances, and except for a few small incidences have left us and our equipment alone. The Ealdorman, in particular, seems to be very congenial, of course we have to expect a few bad eggs in the bunch, but on the whole I feel we have been more than welcome here.”

“Any certain bad eggs that come to mind that need watching?”

Lemay shrugged. “After last night, I would have said Sir Elid, but he spent most of the day with Sadao and Jefferies, at least during their down time, hounding them to teach him more with the staff. I’ll say this for the man; he took his defeat graciously enough, and kept those two sweaty all afternoon. Other than that no one comes to mind right off.”

“I’m not sure the bad eggs are in this basket,” Dr. Rice began. “There are several major players in this era. Lord Eadwulf of Kent and maybe fifty knights are moving west from Shaftesbury, which is only a couple of days ride from our position. Æthelnoth tells me the Earl of Kent is a hard man and challenged Alfred for the throne after Alfred’s older brother died.”

Peebles frowned. “Is he heading toward Athelney?”

Rice shrugged. “Unknown, but Leoforic’s father, the Earl of Mercia is also moving to the southwest, but with an army. Æthelred’s his name; he’s married to Alfred’s sister Æthelf
læ
d and is very loyal to the King.” 

“Two Earls?”
Matt asked and Rice nodded.

“Earls…yes, though Æthelred was considered a minor King in his own right. England was divided piece meal in these times into many small countries, each with their own ruler. There’s Mercia, where Leoforic’s father rules. East Anglia, which is truly ruled by a Viking named Guthrum. According to history he’s still a great danger to Alfred and lower England despite the treaty of Wedmore. And there’s Northumbria, also ruled by Vikings and then the lands of Kent, led by Eadwulf, which is at this point in history is subservient to the dominate King of Wessex…Alfred.”

Peebles frown deepened. “Too much politics…this could get very sticky. And just where does Ealdorman Æthelnoth stand in all of this?”

Rice smiled. “Oh he’s very loyal to King Alfred…one of his most loyal subjects to be sure. Our trip through the Door was most fortuitous.”

“Fortuitous!” Lemay barked. “We have the army of Mercia and horsemen from Kent marching our direction and you call our arrival fortuitous!”

Rice smiled and nodded again. “If we can win Æthelnoth, Æthelred and Eadwulf to our side…well then Alfred should be easy.”

Lemay shook his head…clearly worried and the silence in the tent became palatable.

“Look,” Rice continued, “armies of this time were relatively small…no more than a couple of thousand men. I’m not sure Alfred ever managed to muster even a ten thousand man army against the Viking invaders.”

“Yes,” Lemay spat back, “even so it still means a couple thousand armed men in our midst any day now.”

“Yes,” Peebles finally said, “it seems we may have a substantial fighting force descending on us soon. Let’s extend the perimeter by a klick and I want a bug up constantly surveying the east and northeast. I don’t want either Æthelred or this Lord Eadwulf arriving without prior warning.”

Everyone nodded. “I’d suggest that we stay on alert, and I’ll double the watch around the ammunitions tent,” Lemay said. “All of the infractions so far have included children...but I don’t think any of us want any of the locals to become too curious and manage to get their hands on a grenade or AR.”

Again everyone agreed, even though the locals that showed some interest in their camp were very careful to give their equipment a wide berth. They were a superstitious bunch.

“The real reason I called this meeting, is that I’ve made a decision to attack the Danes to the west. I believe we need to establish ourselves as a force, and at the same time sow a little loyalty among the local people, not to mention a healthy dose of respect. And if we remove the Danish threat, I believe it will go a long way into gaining their trust.”

“I tend to agree,” Rice said. “These people live in a time where might makes right. There are few true laws other than the laws of force, especially out here on the fringes of current
civilization. The Danes fight and raid...if they win they get food, women, trade goods, and if they lose they die. Much the same can be said for the locals. They grow their crops, and raise their livestock, if their crops fail or their livestock are stolen, they die. There are no grocery stores to pick up extra food...they fight to protect these things or they perish. Neither stability nor security are concrete concepts in these times.”

“Robertson?”

“No objections, Sir,” the scientist answered. “We came fully expecting to dominate these people and pull them out of the muck of the dark ages. I say let’s get to it.”

The entire group of soldiers smiled, including the General. Apparently five hard years of fighting Skawps could toughen even the most absent-minded bookworm. In any case, he could not express their mission any better.

“My tactical plan calls for the group to split up. I’d like to take about two hundred men west, along with all the Hummers but one. The Ealdorman believes the Danes are only about five hundred strong, which is a sizable force from his vantage point.”